Knicks' Davis draws 5-game suspension

NBA says going into stands "intolerable' -- even to aid wife

Published 10:00 pm, Thursday, January 19, 2006

NEW YORK -- New York Knicks forward Antonio Davis was suspended five games by the NBA on Thursday for entering the stands during a game at Chicago to confront a fan he thought was harassing his wife.

While the ruling by NBA vice president of basketball operations Stu Jackson showed the league accepted Davis' argument that he believed his wife was in trouble during Wednesday's game, it also made clear that entering the stands would not be tolerated, no matter the circumstances.

"At the end of the day, what we had to decide on was the issue of Antonio breaking the barrier from the court into the stands," Jackson said during a conference call. "At the end of the day, that was the most important aspect of making that decision."

Jackson added that a player entering the stands normally results in a suspension of "double-digit games."

Davis' suspension began with Thursday night's home game against Detroit, and the players' union plans to file a grievance to commissioner David Stern. The Pistons were the home team the last time players went into the stands -- when Ron Artest and Stephen Jackson started an ugly brawl with fans in November 2004.

An embarrassment for the NBA, the brawl led to criminal charges and lengthy suspensions for Artest, Jackson and Jermaine O'Neal.

The league was not nearly as harsh in this instance.

"Certainly the message was very clear after the Nov. 19 incident in that it was clear to our players that they were not to enter the stands under any circumstances," Jackson said

"Certainly this suspension is evident to the fact that we're very serious about that declaration. We realize there were some mitigating circumstances and we did in fact take that into account."

Davis, president of the NBA players' association, jumped over the scorer's table to get in the stands at the United Center.

"I witnessed my wife being threatened by a man that I learned later to be intoxicated," he said in a statement after the game. "I saw him touch her, and I know I should not have acted the way I did, but I would have felt terrible if I didn't react. There was no time to call security. It happened too quickly."

But 22-year-old Michael Axelrod said Kendra Davis tried to scratch him after he protested a call. Axelrod said he never laid a hand on Davis' wife and said he was not drunk.

"It's a lie. When I go to games, I cheer as hard as I can for the Bulls, and I boo as hard as I can for whoever they're playing," Axelrod said. "I don't feel comfortable if players are allowed to easily jump into the crowd whenever they feel like it's necessary."

Axelrod's attorney, Jay Paul Deratany, said he planned to sue Davis and his wife for more than $1 million. Deratany said he was writing the papers Thursday for a battery suit against Kendra Davis and a slander case against Antonio Davis.

According to Axelrod, he was sitting in the seventh row and booed an official's call. Kendra Davis "came out of her seat." I didn't even pay attention to her."

Axelrod, who was sitting a couple of rows behind her, said she yelled at him to be quiet. Axelrod said he did not know she was Davis' wife until the player ran into the stands.

Axelrod said Kendra Davis put both hands on his face, and that he motioned for security. He said she later went after another fan.